The ŻakArt project comprises a total of 45 cultural events in 15 cities in Poland. The initiative grew out of a collaboration initiated in 2019 within the framework of the National Student Culture Forum between student culture centres from 15 academic centres across Poland. Three years of continuous contact have allowed a framework for cooperation to take shape, which provides a good basis for building sustainable institutional structures.
Participating in the project, apart from the University of Gdańsk, are Częstochowa University of Technology, Łódź University of Technology, Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice, Wrocław University of Technology, Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce, Maria Curie Skłodowska University in Lublin, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Opole University, Siedlce University of Life Sciences, Poznań University of Life Sciences, University of Agriculture in Kraków, University of Szczecin, University of Białystok and University of Warmia and Mazury.
The main objective of the ongoing project is exchange between the individual centres. Each of the units taking part in ŻakArt will present itself to the audience of a different centre of academic culture in Poland. The events prepared include theatre performances, concerts, dance performances, film screenings and exhibitions.
Project exchanges
The following exchanges will take place: Częstochowa will host a music group from Kielce, Gdańsk will host a theatre group from Olsztyn, Gliwice will host a music performance from Poznań, Szczecin will host a rock band from Łódź, Lublin will host a guest performance by a theatre group from Częstochowa, Toruń will show a film prepared by students from Wrocław, and so on. The programme of each exchange will be additionally enriched with workshops and a lecture devoted to the given unit, and the transfers will last from October this year until the end of November.
The ŻakArt project comprises a total of 45 cultural events in 15 cities in Poland. The final of this year's project will take place on 25-26 November at ACKiM UMCS Chatka Żaka in Lublin, where all local coordinators from 15 units in Poland will meet to exchange experiences and insights gained during the project. The current project is also an attempt to go beyond the academic environment, to the local community, so that a wider audience can also become recipients of the students' artistic activity.
The University of Gdańsk will host the Academic Cultural Centre of the University of Warmia and Mazury, which will present a theatrical performance entitled 'Wife Candidates' on 4 November at the theatre stage named after prof. Jerzy Limon.
On November 18, the ACK UG Vocal Studio will perform 'Adele Songbook' at the Jan Kochanowski University Centre for Science and Culture in Kielce.
What is the ŻAKART project exactly?
This year's ŻAKART project is a continuation of activities initiated in 2019 as part of a broader initiative, the Student Culture Forum. Akademickie Centrum Kultury i Mediów UMCS Chatka Żaka in Lublin together with the National Centre for Culture in 2019 conducted a study on the diagnosis of student culture in Poland.
The results of this analysis showed that student culture has great potential, yet is an insufficiently recognised field. It turned out that students participate in cultural life not only as recipients, but are extremely often active participants. These findings formed the basis for the establishment and development of cooperation between centres of academic culture in Poland.
After the largest Polish festival of student culture, which took place in autumn 2021 in Chatka Żaka, the time has come to launch the project in other parts of the country. This year, more than a dozen units from all over Poland will send their teams to other units. This will give each centre the chance to present itself in a different city, in front of a different audience. There will be artistic performances, workshops, lectures and meetings. The transfers will run from October until the end of November. The project's initiator and trailblazer is Izabela Pastuszko, director of the Chatka Żaka Academic Centre for Culture and Media of the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University.
- 'Student Culture is a space where young people can develop and build their identities. Years of working with students have shown me how valuable the very process of creation is to them, the possibility to express themselves through various fields of art. All it takes is the creation of the right space for them, mentoring support, to see artistic projects often at the highest level. I can't wait to see what the young artists will surprise us with this autumn,' - says Izabela Pastuszko, director of the ACKiM UMCS Chatka Żaka in Lublin and initiator of the project.
For more information about the project, visit the official Facebook page of the Student Culture Forum: https://www.facebook.com/forumkulturystudenckiej.